Controller



Dec. 2, 1930. E; -1 ABBE 1,783,763

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,YW/aad Dec. 2, 1930. E. J. ABBE CONTROLLER Filed oct. 2o. 1927 3Sheets-Sheet 3 Flew' Q Patented Dec. 2, 1930 UNITED STATES lPATEN'I-OFFICE EWARD J. ABBE, CLEVELAND, OHIO, .ASSIGNOR TO THE ELWELL-PARKERELECTRIC COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO CONTROLLERApplication led October 20, 1927. Serial No. 227,509.

This invention relates to electric control- 1ers, preferably for use inmoving structures, such as motor vehicles, electric cars, elevators,traveling cranes, and the like, and is concerned with improvements onthe type of controller disclosed in Patent No. 1,073,397, issued to TheElwell-Parlrer Company, September 16th, 1913, the assignee of theinstant application. ,y

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved safetydevice, in association with a controller of the type referred to, forrendering the controller operable only when the attendant is in a normaloperating position, the circuit being automatically broken if theattendant leaves that position, and the controller beingunoperable-until he returns. Y

A further object of this invention is to provide a controller that willprevent the direction of rotation of the motors from being reversedwithout the current beingentirely cut off for abriefinterval of timebetween the forward and reverse movements of the motor, therebypreventing serious damage to the controller, the motors and possibly thevehicle itself.

The invention comprises the means by which I ycarry vout the aboveoperations, as hereinafter more fully described and set out in theclaims. f g. f

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation on a reduced scale of almotor Vehicle equipped with my controller and safety mechanism; Fig. 2is a side elevation of my controller with part of the casing removed;Fig. 3 is a plan with the casing removed; Fig. 4 is a verticallongitudinal cross section along the lines 1 4 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is avertical transverse cross section along the lines 5-5 of Fig. 3; Figs. 6and 7 are detailsof the interlocking mechanism taken along the planes6-6 and 7-7 of Fig. 5; Fig. 8 is a sectional detail of the safetymechanism takenalong the lines 8 8 of Fig. 3; Fig. 9 is a detail of theparts shown in Fig. 8, but in different positions.

As shown in the drawings, 10 represents the casing of the .controlleriny which is` mounted the acceleration or speed control barrel 11, andthe direction control barrel 12, these having respective cooperatingfingers 13 and 14. The barrel 11 is rigidly mounted on a shaft 15, andisinsulated therefrom by the insulator 16. The shaft 15 is journalled inbearings 17 and 18 at the ends of the casing. This shaft extends'throughthe casing and is provided with suitable means for manually rocking it,such as the lever 19. The reversing control barrel 12 is rigidly mountedon a sleeve 20 and is insulated therefrom by the insulator 21. Thesleeve 20 is rotatably mounted on the right hand portion of the shaft15. lRigidly mounted at the right hand end of the sleeve 2() is a member22 and pivoted thereon is the lever 23, by means of which the barrel 12may be manually rotated. The casing is slotted to permit the lever 23 topass through it and the slot is provided with recesses 24, 241m and 245,in which the operator may selectively seat the lever and thus variablyposition the barrel. A `suitable spring, suchas the spring 25, keeps thelever in contact with the recesses. The direction control barrel 12 hasthree operating positions as follows: Then the lever 23 is in the slot240;, its upper position, the Circuit is such that when the motors areaccelerated they will rotate to move the vehicle forwardly when thelever is in its lowermost position,

' in slot 24?) the circuit is such that the vehicle will acceleratebackwardly; and when the lever 23 is in the intermediate slot 24, thecircuit is broken and the rotation of the acceleration control barrel 11will not affect the motors. The slots 24a and 247) are so shaped as tocooperate with the spring 25 in tending to main the lever 23 in its fullforward and reverse positions.

To prevent the reversing of rotation of the motors while the barrel 11is in an operating position, I provide the following mechanism Betweenthe two barrels l mount cams and 31. The cam 30 is rigidly mounted onthe shaft 15 and rotates with it, while the cam 31 is rigidly mounted onthe sleeve 20 and rotates therewith. The cam 31 is provided withrecesses 35, 36 and 37. Mounted in the casing is a shaft 4.-() on whichare pivotally mounted arms 4l and 42, each being free to move relativeto the other. The arm 41 carries on its upper end a locking lug 43 soarranged as to engage with the recesses 35, 36 and 37 on the cam 31 whenthe barrel 12 is in its forward, off and reverse positions respectively.The lower edge of the recess 35, and the upper edge of the recess 37,are beveled so that operation of the barrel, while the loc ring lug 43is in either of these positions will cam the lug outwardly and permitthe barrel to rotate until the lug reaches the recess 36 where it willbe locked against further rotation. To release the barrel 12 when inthis locked position, I provide the roller 44 which is carried by thelug 43, (see Figs. 2, 5 and 6) and coacts with the cam of the barrel 11,The cam surface 30 is so arranged as to cam the roller 44, and the lug43 outwardly to free the cam 31, only when the barrel 11 is in its offposition. Hence, the barrel 12 can only be operated to reverse thedirection of rotation of the motors when the accelerator control barrel11 is in its off position. The arm 42 carries a roller 46 which coactswith recesses 47 in the cam 30 as detents to aid the operator toposition the acceleration control. A spring 48 fastened to the levers 41and 42 tends to draw the arms toward each other to maintain the rollers44 and 46 and the lug 43 in contact with the respective cams 30 and 31.

To make the operation of the controller dependent on the attendant beingin proper position, l provide the following mechanism: Mounted in thecontroller casing is a vertical guide way 50 which carries a verticalshaft 51 1iro\'ficled with a key 5S to prevent its rotation. The shaft51 is provided with a V shaped head 52 at its upper end. The head hascam surfaces 53 adapted to coact with surfaces 54 of the member 22, asshown in Fig. 9, and cam the barrel 12 and the lever to theirintermediate or off position, as shown in Fig. 8. rlhe lower end of theshaft 51 is connected to a movable portion 59 of the supporting platformby means of link 61, lcv r (i2, link 63 and an arm 64 which projectsrigidly from the movable portion of the platform 59. Suitable springsplaced anywhereV in the mechanism, as indicated by springs 65 and 66tend to move the mechanisin in a direction to elevate the platform, andraise the head 53 to the position shown in Fig. 8.

vWith the mechanism described, and when the operator is standing on themovable platform, the shaft 51 is drawn downwardly, \\ithdrawing` thehead 52 from Contact with the member 22, as shown in F ig. 9,permittinp` the operator to manually move the control lever 23 toposition the barrel 12 for rotating` the motor to propel the vehicleforwardly or backwardly as desired. lf, however, the operator shouldremove his weight from the movable portion of platform with lever 23 inoperating' position, the shaft 51 will be forced upwardly by action ofthe springs 65 and 66 which will cause the head 52 to cam the barrel 12to its off position, and lock it there, due to pressure of the springsuntil the movable platform 59 is again depressed by the operator being,-in position. Now, the circuit being open at the barrel 12, it isimmaterial if any one, tampering with the mechanism should turn theacceleration control barrel 11 to its active position.

Means are provided to return the acceleration control barrel 11 to itsoif7 position when the operator takes his hand off the lever 19. Theshaft 15 carries a lever 70 which is connected to a red 71 by means of alink 72. On this rod is a head 73 which has a sliding connection withthe yoke 74 which is pivoted to the frame of the vehicle. A compressionspring 7 5 is interposed between the head 73 and the other end of theyoke 74. This tends to automatically return the shaft 15 and rotate thebarrel 11 to its olf position where it is always urged against manualoperation by the spring 75.

But suppose that when the operator leaves the platform the control lever19 is `jammed or for any reason the barrel 11 is in its on positioninstead of an off position as it should be under these circumstances,the lockinglu g 43 will fall into the recess 36 and lock the barrel 12against rotation. Now, under these conditions when the movable platform59 is swung` downward by the presence of the operator the head 52 willbe withdrawn from contact with the member 22, but the barrel 12 cannotbe rotated until the barrel 11 has first been turned to its ofl'position and the cam 30 has carried the lug 43 out of contact with therecess 37 of the cam 31.

Freni the above description it will be seen that when the operatorleaves the platform the direction control barrel is turned to an '1 offposition, regardless of the position of the acceleration control barreland it is impossible to turn it to an operating position, unless theaccelerator control be at olf positio-n, also that the operator cannotrotate the l" direction control barrel from one operating position toanother unless the acceleration control is first moved to an olfposition. Accordingly, my mechanism protects against tampering with thedevice when the operator is off the platform as well as prevents theoperator from doing serions harm to the motors without first bringingthe controller to an off position.

It is also evident that the manually operated speed controller effectsacceleration of the truck motors when the motors are ruuning in eitherdirection to drive the truck forward or backward, but it is onlymanually operated to turn the controller in one direction, that is, toeffect increasing speeds of the motors. It is valways urged in theopposite direction against manual eXertion by a spring operated meanswhich tends to return the speed controller to a starting position.Hence, when the hand is taken oft' the hand lever the speed controlleris immediately urged to olf position. In other words, the

speed controller must be constantly manually y controlled to keep thetruck running, and the spring means will return it to off position. Thedirection controller can only be manually operated at automaticallypredetermined positions of the running controller. The automaticoperation of the reversing` controller to a neutral position isimmediately effected upon the operator leaving his position on theplatform of the truck.

The operator does not need to depart entirely from the truck to effectthe automatic o-peration of the reversing controller to its neutralposition, but merely shifts his weight to the fixed portion of thesupporting platform, removing it from the movable portion, thus theoperator can permit the automatic return of the reversing controller toneutral from either-one of the reversing positions of the controllerwithout leaving his position on the truck, and he can, if he desires,manually operate the direction controller from forward position to.neutral and then to reverse position, but he cannot go through thiscycle except with the acceleration control in neutral.

l claim:

l. The combination of an acceleration control barrel, a member movabletherewith, a direction control barrel, a member movable therewith, andan integrally movable interlocker device arranged to operatively contactwith both members, to prevent operation of the direction control barrelwhen the acceleration control barrel is in an on7 position.

2. The combination of an acceleration con trol barrel, a directioncontrol barrel, and an interlocking mechanism disposed between the twobarrels including an arm disposed between the two barrels controllablyrocked by the acceleration control barrel and latchingly connected tothe direction control barrel to prevent the movement of the directioncontrol barrel from the off position until the acceleration controlbarrel is in an olf position.

3. The combination of an acceleration control barrel, a cam memberrotatable with the acceleration control barrel, and a member having arecess rotatable with the direction control barrel and disposed betweenthe barrels, a roller coacting with the cam member, a locking lugassociated with the roller and arranged to enter the recess in therecessed member when the direction control barrel is in the ofl7position, the cam member being arranged to withdraw the locking lug whenthe* acceleration control member is in the offl position. 4.VThe'combination in a truck of an acceleration controller barrel,adirection control barrel, and means for Voperating them, of a movableoperators support, mechanism operating automatically to move thedirection control-barrel to an olf7 position when the support is raised,and mechanism'between the-control barrels arranged to prevent the returnof the direction control barrel toV an operating position until theacceleration con trol barrel is in an olf position;

ln anv electric controller for motor vehicles, .a speed controllerbarrel manually operable in a speed acceleration direction andautomatically operable 'in a speed reducing direction, a reversingcontrol in connection with the speed controller, means foryautomatically shifting the reversing controller to a neutral or openposition, and an interlocking means associated with the two controllermechanisms for predetermining the position of the speed controller atwhich the reversing controller can be shifted to either one of its lineclosing positions.

6. ln an electric controller for motor vehicles, a speed controllermanually operable in a speed acceleration,direction, and automaticallyoperable in a speed reducing direction, a reversing controller inconnection with the speed controller, movable operators platform', meansfor automatically moving the reversing controller rto an ofl positionwhen the platformis raised, and means for predetermining the position ofthe speed controller at which the reversing controller can be shifted toeither of its line closing positions.v f f 7. In an electric controller'for motor vehicles, a speed controller manually operable in a speedaccelerated direction, and automatically operable in a speed reducingdirection, a reversing controller manually operable to either of itsline closing positions at a predetermined position of the speedcontroller, a safety member, a movable platform, and a connectionbetween the platform and the safety member operating to move thereversing controller to an off7 position consequent on the raising ofthe platform.

8. ln an electric controller for motor vehicles, a speed controllermanually operable ina speed accelerated direction and automaticallyoperable in a speed reducing direction, a reversing controller, manuallyoperable in either of its line closing positions at predeterminedpositions of the speed controller only, a movable operators platform,and a connection between the platform and the reversing controller toautomatically move the reversing controller to an off positionconsequent on the raising of the platform.

9. The combination o f an acceleration con- CTI trol barrel, and adirection control barrel mounted on a common shaft, locking mechanismdisposed between the tWo barrels including a cam on the accelerationcontrol barrel, and a member co-operating With the cam and carrying alocking device arranged to hold the direction control barrel in oliiposition, said member being controlled in its position entirely by thecam to prevent rotation of the direction control barrel until theacceleration control barrel is in an olf position.

10. The combination with a controller having` an ecceleration controlmember, a direction control member, and a movable safety deviceoperating,- to move the direction control member to an oil positionWhether the acceleration control member is in off or on position, andmeans positioned by the acceleration control member and directlyengaging a rigid part of the direction control member for preventing themovement of the direction control member to an on position until theacceleration control member is in an off position.

l1. The combination in an industrial truck of a controller having aneccelerator control member and a direction control member5 a movableplatform arranged to support the Weight of the operator, means formoving` the direction control member to an off position consequentuponthe platform being raised, and means preventing the movement of thedirection control member from the olf position until the accelerationcontrol member is in an oil position.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto ailix my signature.

EDWARD J. ABBE.

